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Sunday, October 18, 2015

The 3B Box October 2015 Asian Beauty Subscription Box Review

The 3B Box is a fun way to get a taste of Asain beauty every month. It's so affordable that if you're even slightly interested in it, you should check it out. They do a great job of sending all sorts of brands and products from Korea.

It's like a Birchbox for Asian beauty. You'll mostly get samples, although it seems many months tend to have at least one full size item, sometimes two. I always feel like it's worth it. Especially if you are new to kbeauty and just getting a feel for the kinds of things you may or may not like. This is a really good way to experience Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese cosmetics without shelling out at Sephora or making a large overseas order.

The Cost: $12/month

What You Get: Four to five deluxe size Asian beauty samples from Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

DHC Alpha-Arbutin White Mask- This sheet mask is by Japanese brand DHC. You may know of them because of their cleansing oil which has been very popular in regular subscription boxes. This is a fairly basic sheet mask. Don't be scared, it won't make you whiter. But it will brighten your skin and help even out your skintone. That's because of the ingredient Arbutin. It's not as effective as niacinamide in reducing hyperpigmentation but it will help. If you read the ingredients you'll see something strange. Placental protein! Sometimes when you see this in the ingredients lists, it is usuall from plants. But according to DHC, their placental protein is from pork. The reason they use it is because it is considered a rich source of nutrients and amino acids, used to moisturize the skin. "It is safe to be used in cosmetics and no cruelty is involved in extracting this ingredient; it is a natural by-product that would otherwise be discarded." I mention all that because if you are a vegan or ethical vegetarian, etc, you may need to be aware of this.
On the other hand, Asian beauty is full of really strange ingredients. Starting with snail and ending with badger oil. Yeah. While I'll happily smear snail on my face now, I am not willing to slather horse oil on it. There are plenty of other oils available. The snails, at least, are not harmed in any way by the extraction. And I do have to admit that I love horses (and do NOT love garden-eating snails).

Holika Holika Good Cera Toner and Emulsion- The Good Cera line prides itself on the use of ceramides. Ceramides are very important for your skins' moisture levels as well as repairing and restoring your natural skin barrier. If you see ceramides in a skincare product, it's a good thing. Ceramides are usually plant based or synthetic with the synthetic ones being the most efficient because it's easier to control their size. Some molecules (like collagen) are just too big to penetrate the layers of the skin and get down to where they can be the most effective.
I have used the Good Cera Super Cream and didn't like it because it caused me to break out. I haven't tried either of these products, though, so we will see how it goes. I think I wouldn't use either one of these regularly (or purchase more) just because there are other products out there with ceramides that also have other benefits. I like to get as much as I can packed into each single product. :)

La'Dor Perfect Hair Filler- This has been reviewed with raves by several people. Most notably, my friend Tracy at fanserviced-b. She does a great review and explains to use it just like a conditioner after you shampoo. Well, and after you've mixed it with 1 part water and created the goop. 3B says that you should leave it in your hair for 20 minutes. It's got protein, silk amino acids, keratin, collagen and ceramides all dedicated to making your damaged hair supremely beautiful.

It's Skin Power 10 Formula VC Effector- Considering this one product is as much as the box costs, it's pretty great to see this in it! This is a serum so it is to be used after cleansing and toning but before your regular moisturizer and sunscreen. It has a moisturizing component as well as beneficial antioxidants but the big claim to fame here is the ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate. Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate is an oil soluble form of vitamin C. It's not going to cause any skin issues, it's not like the form of Vitamin C that's used to exfoliate and it's not the super potent form of Vitamin C that oxidizes quickly and needs to be kept in bottle that won't let light in. It does however, have the ability to even out your skintone, reduce age spots related to hyperpigmentation, moisturize, fight free radicals and basically make your skin look good.
In other words, use it. :D

VERDICT: I think this might be one of the more fun 3B boxes I've received. Although last month's was pretty good, too. I love the addition of the Power 10 formula. If you end up liking it, there are several versions, though I think this might be one of the best. I can't wait to try the Hair Filler and I am curious to see how the Holika Holika products work for me. While I'm not super excited about putting placenta on my face, I think I'm just going to do it. Maybe. But if I can put snail on my face (on my LIPS!)...

You can sign up for The 3B Box right here. I do believe they are still on a waitlist but the sooner you are on the list, the sooner you will be off of it. You'll still get a choice to subscribe once you're off of the list so joining the waitlist doesn't mean they'll charge you without you knowing.

What did you think of this box?! Thoughts on the placenta? Have you tried the La'Dor hair stuff?

2 comments:

I thought it was important to make a note of that because I have several vegetarians in my family who would not be too happy about discovering it after the fact. No matter how ethically it was obtained. This is one of the reasons I wish that everything had English ingredient lists. It's so important in so many ways.